The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-08-13
THE GREAT WOOL MONOPOLY.


THE GREAT WOOL MONOPOLY,
The editor Of this Journal has not Eel
called upon Of late to indulge largely il
thrift discussions, that department having
been abundantly and ably managed by cor
respondents Yet occasionally he encOunt
! ers an article In protectlonist organ thai
IS so characteristic and thoroughly repre-
sentative of the style Of argument used by
all journals of that ilk to justify and up
hold the robber features of the system tc
which they are welded, that, as with the
lrishman in a Kilkenny row, when he sees
ahead, our Impulse like his becomes ire,
slstible 10 hit It. Thus in the Chicago
|J0uHdj of the 9Th Inst we find a short dis
QUESTION on "Our Product of Wooden
Goods" in which the great wool monopoly
Is defended In these terms:
In 1886 the total consumption of wool In
the United States was, In round numbers,
400 600 600 pounds. Of this amount 800.
600 600 pounds were of American growth
and 80 600, 900 pounds were imported. A
late free trade writer urges that the import
duty on wool should be abolished. and says
that thus the wooden products of the United
States could be exported Mt a profit. The
fact Is, that the people of the United States
use all the wooden products of the country,
and would take more ii the mills could
make more. According to the census re
turns of the United States the wooden pro-
ducts of 1880 were S20O,0O0,000 In value.
They have probably increased to S2j0000
600 or S300,000,00O at the present time OF
this amount there was exported only lit
tie over $2,0OO,000 In value IN 1886
Not only did the people of the United
States use for themselves the entire supply
of wooden goods produced In this country
eXportedl, but they imported In addition
$i0,5OO,000 in value of such goods during
the year.
Anybody hut blind, ignorant, sophistl.
cal and stul,iiied free trade theorist could,
with one eye open, see through these facts,
ana the inference which they yield. All
the WOODEN manufactures In the country do
not produce enough wooden goods for pop.
ular use. Why, then, in the name OF com.
mon sense should questions be raised as TO
n change Of the financial policy of the
country 10y which they could export goods
NJ profit? As long rs they can not make
enough Tor the home supply why should
We worry about an export supply
This statement that the people of the L.
5. take all the wooden products of the
country" to the amount of 100000, 600
year. and, because the mills can make no !
more" import Si0,0O0,0O0 worth in addi. |
ton, merits attention. Why can the mills
make no more? Is there no limit TO the |
productive power of our mills, when they
can sell all they can produce at profit
That is nonsense. The fact is we'll known
that from 1916 to 1860, when there was
substantially ne tariff either on foreign |
wool or wooden goods, the country was full
of wooden mills--we had fifty in Illinois
alone and Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, &c,
had them In scores, and the mills not only
could make all the wooden goods the coun,
try needed but largely exported But
where are those mills now Wiped out by
protection" Not only have hundreds of
inland wooden mills been thus wiped out,
but the same malign influence has so Grip
pied the great wooden mills at the manufac
turing centers in the East that they are no
longer able to meet the home demand
How has 1t been done In the first place,
our manufacturers are hampered by tax
of so per cent on foreign wool On all the
oils and chemicals they use they
pay from 80 to 100 per cent more, and on
every other article or implement that en-
ers into the product or finishing Of their
goods they pay from 60 to rs Ter cent
more. 1t is true, they are protected" by
ariff of from 40 to GO per cent against "for.
,ign competition" but the English manu-
acturer, who Is subjected TO no such eXac-
ions on his raw material, can enter our
market with his finer goods and undersell
he home manufacturer in spite of his /
protection" L
But" says the protectionist lunatc, "the q
ariff on wool is necessary for the protec- q
ion of the sheep raiser of Ohio and our {
5reat western prairies and that on oil, |
hemicsls, implements, &c, &c, for the a
q other industries" All tom. {
ooling and fraudi Wool was higher in the l.
J. s. from 1916 TO 1860, without protection, ?
han II Is now with It's 80 per cent bonus. p